Ladder step stand



Sept. 3, 1957 Filed Jan. 10, 1955 H. JOHNSON 2,805,104

LADDER STEP STAND 5 Sheets$heet l 1 V II I2 J 4 f y z Invent or BossHerman Johnson By At-borny I Sept. 3, 1957 R. H. JOHNSON 2,805,104

LADDER STEP STAND Filed Jan. 10, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 MI 4K my "1" 3:"W 25 44 "1 as" 2 'Il/IIIIII/l/I/I/l///I/////////lll/l/Il/I/l/flInventor Boss Hermdn Johnsgn B W42 mm,

Sept. 3, 1957 j R. H. JOHNSON 2,805,104

' LADDER STEP STAND Filed Jan. 10, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inv en'bor BossHerman J hnson 5 MQ,W

A171; or'ney painters, fruit-pickers, tinners, etc.

United States Patent LADDER STEP STAND Ross Herman Johnson,Indianapolis, Ind. Application January 10, 1955, Serial No. 480,760

4 Claims. (Cl. 304-315 I tached.

The structure presents in eifect a flat platform extending from theround behind the ladder so that the foot of the user may be supportedentirely thereon and thus avoid the customarily encountered arch-strain,leg-ache, and even backache as is found to exist among those workmen whocommonly employ ladders such as carpenters,

Also the structure provides a factor of safety sinc the user may standerect on the platform thus provided by the construction and have bothhands free whereas in the past structures, the user has been'obligedtouse one hand to hold onto the ladder particularly where the ladderemploys the usual rounds. r

Two of the structures embodying the invention may be employed, one tostand upon, and one placed thereabove to support buckets or the like forconvenient placement for usage.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those versed in the art in the following description whichis made in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa view in rear elevation of a simplified formof structure embodying theinvention applied to a ladder round;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the structure;

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of a modified form of the standembodying the invention as applied'to a fragmentary length of a ladder;

Fig. 4 is a view in transverse section on the line 4--4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation and partial section of that formshown in Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail in central vertical section through the form of standas illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 with a modified round engagement; i i

Fig. 7 is a view in rear elevation of a further modified form of thestand as applied to a fragmentary length of a ladder;

Fig. 8 is a view in transverse sectionon the line 8-8 in Fig. 7; and iFig. 9 is a view in side elevation and partial section with fragments ofthe structure broken away.

Referring first to that form of the stand as illustrated in Figs. 1 and2, a unitary sheet of metal is formed to have in its normal usage aplatform'10 generally rectangular in form free along one relatively rearedge 11 and both sides 12 and 13. The platform merges through a bend 14into a round encircling length 15 from ice which length 15, there isturned rearwardly an under length 16. From the rear portion 17 of thislength 16, there is a downwardly and diagonally extending, apron 18which in turn has wings 19 and 20 extending laterally therefromsuflicient in length to bear against the rear sides 23 and 24 of theladder rails 21 and 22 respectively.

To apply the structure thus far described, the platform 10 is turnedupside down and brought around the under side of the ladder round 25,Fig. 2; and then revolved as indicated by the arrows from the dash lineposition to bring the wings 19 and 20 around against the back sides ofthe ladder rails 21 and Hand to have the platform 10 then extendrearwardly from over the top sideof the ladder round 25 when thestructure willthen be positioned as indicated in Fig. 2 to have theplatform 10 extend by its greater area rearwardly of the round 25. Inthe normal angle of the ladder rails21 and 22 when in usage, theplatform 10 will be substantially positioned horizontally by reason ofthe angularity of the wings 19 and 20 in respect to the plane of theplatform 10.

In this position, the user 'may. climb up the ladder in the normalmanner, and when he comes to the platform 10, he may stop with his feetthereon. of the user Will rest substantially on or rearwardly of theround 25 on the platform 10, while the sole of the foot will extendrearwardly therefrom and be supported by the platform 10 whereby thefeet of the operator maybe fully supported without the operator havingto balance around on the round25either on his toes or through his archesintermediate the ball and heel of his feet. The platform 10 is made outof sufiiciently rigid material to resist any substantial bending, and infact by turning the platform 10 at substantially right angles from thetop of the length 15, the tendency to bend at the junction between theplatform and the length 1'5 is avoided so that in effect there is acertain amount of stiffening obtained by effecting this right anglebend. The same thing is true of the juncture between the lengths 15 and16.

The structure may be removed from the ladder round 25 by reversing theoperation above described, turning the structure in the directionopposite to that indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. Thus it is to beseen that the structure may be quickly appliedto any selected round ofthe ladder and moved upwardly or downwardly therealong at will. Therewill be no tendency for this structure to slip laterally of the ladderround 25 since the platform 10 extends between the two rails 21 and 22,and need not fit snugly thereagainst. In fact there may be considerableclearance between the side edges 12 and 13 of the platform 10 as isindicated in Fig. 1. Also by leaving this clearance, the same structuremay beequallywell applied to ladders of differing lengths, andparticularly to tapering ladders which are narrower at the top than theyare at the lower portion. Neither can the structure slip horizontallyforwardly of the ladder because of the bearing of the wings 19 and 20against the rear sides of the rails. This form of the structure isexceedingly light in weight and yet is found to be quite serviceable.

Where a heavier type of stand'is desired and a stand which may beaccommodated to a wider range of ladder widths is required, the form ofthe invention as illustrated in Figs. 4-6'is provided.

In this form, there are provided right and left hand brackets 26 and 27respectivelywhich have hooks 28 and 29 formed at their ends to engagearound the forward sides of the ladder rails 21 and 22. Each of thesehooks 28 and 29 has a length 30 to extend across the front side of therail and from which length 30, there is a rearwardl y and downwardlyturned foot 31 to bear along the outside face ofeach rail. m f Each ofthese brackets 26 .and 27 has turned one toward The heel illustrated inFigs. 3-6, is illustrated in Figs. 7-9.

the other a lower flange 33 and 34 respectively. A platform generallydesignated by the numeral 35 is carried on these two flanges 33 and 34in such manner that the flanges 26 and 27 may be spread apart or pulledin one toward the other depending upon the spacing apart of the ladderrails 21 and 22. For the sake of clearness, the structure shown in Fig.4 is purposely spread apart to a greater width than would normally beencountered between the rails 21 and 22. V

This platform 35 isjconstructed by having a number of interengagiugslide members, so 'interengaging such as by dovetailing, or by tongueand groove matching edges, herein illustrated, Figs. 36, as having theseslide members beveled. The object of the interengagement between theslide members is to hold the platform in a substantially horizontallyaligned position at any'position of extension edges 38 and 39 conformingto the slopes of the side edges 40 and 41 of the members 36.

A floor piece 42 is placed over the top edges of the members 36 andsecured thereto by any suitable means such as by welding. The slidemembers 37 are free from any connection with the-floor piece 42 andslide relatively thereunder and along the beveled edges 40 and 41 of themembers 36, whereby these members 37 cannot drop downwardly from themembers 36, and neither can the members 37 be lifted upwardly by reasonof the floor 42 being secured to the members 36.

To use this structure shown in Figs. 36, the platform 35 is placed overthe top side of the step herein shown as the round 25 and the platform35 is spread apart or retracted to that condition whereby the hooks 28and 29 will engage around the ladder rails 21 and 22 from their forwardsides to bring the structure into that position as indicated in Figs. 3and particularly. To retain the structure in position, some sort of alatching device is employed to interengage the platform 35 with theround 25. In the form herein shown, this engaging means consists simplyof a hook 44, one attached to the outer sides of the members 26 and 27respectively to swing downwardly and around under the round 25 adjacentthe insides of the ladder rails 21 and 22. By such means, the

platform 35 is held against horizontal travel as well as i rocking aboutthe round 25.

The hooks 44 are mounted on the sides of the brackets 26 and 27 in thosepositions as indicated in Fig. 5 wherein the hook comes down on the backside of the round 25 and thereunder so that when the platform 35 has atendency to drop down by its rearmost end, the rail engaging portions 30of the bracket hooks 28 and 29 compressibly bear by their upper edgesparticularly against the forward sides of the rails 21 and 22 and theunder side of the platform 35 tends to kick forwardly across the topside of the round 25, the result being that the hooks 44 prevent thatforward travel and thus hold the platform 35 in the desired rearwardlyextending, approximately horizontally disposed position, this positionof course depending upon the angularity of the ladder rails 21 and 22.

As a further means for preventing horizontal travel 'of the platform 35,an inverted U bracket 45 may be secured to one of the slide members 37to hang downwardly from its under side and straddle the ladder round 25.

A modified form of that structure of platform 35 as In this lastmodified form, there are a pair of floormembers 46 and 47 telescopingone with another in order to provide the desired width of platformbetween the ladder rails 21 and 22, that is the width which is foundbetween the ladder rails 21-and 22 at any one of the ladder rounds 25where the platform is desired to be installed.

The floor member 47 has its fore and aft edges 48 and 49 respectivelyturned downwardly and thence around and upwardly to terminate in aflange 50 and 51 respectively so as to leave a channeldesignated by thenumeral 52 in each instance. The floor member 47 has one end secured toa ladder rail bracket 53. This bracket 53 is formed to extend around theforward side of the ladder rail 22 by a portion 54 and by a subsequentportion 55 extending along the outer face of the rail 22.

The other floor member 46 has its opposite fore and aft edges 56 and 57turned downwardly to enter and slide along within the groove 52 with theupper side of the member 46 substantially in sliding contact with theunder side of the floor member 47. In this manner, the total exposedfloor area of the combined pieces 46 and 47 may be lengthened orshortened within the limits of the lengths of the individual pieces.

The floor member 46 has its end 58 secured to the verticallydisposedmember 59 of the ladder rail bracket 60 which engages around the ladderrail 21, this bracket 60 being a duplicate of the bracket 53 with theexception that one is right-handed and the other is left-handed.

Therefore a detailed description of the bracket 60 will be sufficienttodescribe the bracket 53 also. The bracket 60 consists of the verticallydisposed plate 59 which extends above and below the floor member 57 towhich it is secured. As indicated inFig. 9, the upper edge of the plate59 slopes diagonally upwardly and merges into the cross member 61 whichbears against the forward side of the rail 21 and then continues by anintegral portion into the outside wing 62 which extends a distancerearwardly of the rail 21 and by its lower edge slopes around and downto a lower portion of the member 61 which is spaced well belowthe undersides of the floor members 46 and 47. The under side of the plate 59 isnotched as at 63 to receive substantially the entire upper half of theladder round 25 therein with a rather snug fit. As an aid to positioningthe bracket 60 to rest on the round 25,'-there is a guide member 64fixed to the lower end portion of the member 61 to extend rearwardlybelow the lower edge of the plate 59 a distance which will just permitthe ladder round 25 to enter between the top edge of the member 64 andthe under edge of th'ememb'er 59, the rear end 65 of this member 64terminating on substantially the vertical center line through the round25.

Since the two brackets 53 and 60 are thus seated on the ladder round 25,there is no tendency for the structure to .kick forwardly by reason ofthe engagement over the round 25. The rear end portion of the structurewould tend to rock down in any event, with weight thereon, pulling thebracket member 61 rearwardly against the front side of the ladder railin each instance. As a matter of safety, to prevent accidental liftingof the structure from engagement with the ladder round 25, a securingmeans may be provided, herein suggested as by providing a hole 66through the bracket members back of the ladder rail so that a nail or acotter pin (not shown) may be inserted therethrough temporarily.

Therefore it is 'to be seen that I have provided a substantial, yetsimplified structure for the purposes intended as above set forth, andwhile I have herein shown the invention in the several forms asdescribed, I do not desire to be limited to the precise structure ofthose forms beyond the limitations of the following claims since it isobvious that structural deviations may be employed.

Iclaim:

1; A detachable ladder step stand for mounting over a rung and betweenthe ladder side rails comprising a 'platform'inserted over and by itsmajor length extending 'rearwardly in cantilever fashion from said rung;said platform extending downwardly by a length on the forward side ofsaid rung, then rearwardly by a length under said mug, and finallyturned downwardly by a portion having wing extensions laterallytherefrom extending across and urged against the rearward sides of theladder side rails.

2. A detachable ladder step stand for mounting over a. ladder rung andbetween the ladder side rails comprising a platform inserted over and byits major length extending rearwardly from said rung; said platformhaving a portion extending downwardly on the forward side of said rungfrom which extends a second portion rearwardly under the rung, and fromthe rear of which second portion extends downwardly, a third portion;and a wing extending laterally from each side of said third portionacross and urged against the back sides of the ladder rails by weight ofthe platform fulcruming over the rung and rocking the wingsthereagainst.

3. For a ladder having side rails between which are step elements ofeither steps or rungs, a stand detachably mountable over a step elementcomprising: a platform inserted between said rails and over one of saidelements and extending by a major area to the rear of the element; amember extending from the forward portion of said stand downwardlyacross the front side of said element and around rearwardly under saidelement and between said rails; a second member extending downwardlyfrom the rear portion of the said member; and a wing extending laterallyfrom end portions respectively of said second member across the rearsides of said rails retaining the platform against rocking downwardlyover said step element and retaining the stand against forward travelthereover.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the width of said platform limitstravel of the platform longitudinally of the step element to withinbearing length of said wings on the rails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS335,051 Ayres Jan. 26, 1886 1,714,028 Knuth May 21, 1929 1,820,315Miller Aug. 25, 1931 2,015,378 Davis Sept. 24, 1935 2,103,603 Voigt Dec.28, 1937 2,182,475 Herline Dec. 5, 1939

